Declining a CES — why did you?

[Anonymous]

Curious to hear from parents who decided to not accept a CES slot— what drove that decision? I’ve seen sports and friends called out as the two main reasons here. Anything else?

[Anonymous]

Transportation/extra time to get to and from school

[Anonymous]

Social interactions are more important in ES

[Anonymous]

Kids need different things. My older is very math and sports and friends focused. They wanted to stay in their comfort zone and have time for all of the extra things. My younger is a perfect candidate for CES - creative, loves reading and writing, totally fine to be committed to just school, socially adaptable and makes new friends very easily.

[Anonymous]

Kid is in an immersion program and wanted to continue in it.

[Anonymous]

Already at a high performing elementary with a strong cohort

[Anonymous]

Kid wanted to bike/walk to school to get that feel of independence and continue to be able to hang out with friends more casually, already at a high performing elementary with a great teacher who does the enriched ELA.

Not worth the commute given the lottery. I like that the kids who might have gone to the CES a few years ago now have to stay at the home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Transportation/extra time to get to and from school

+1 My 9 year old doesn't need that kind of commute. We'll pure magnet options for middle school and beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anyone declining Cold Spring?

[Anonymous]

We likely will. My DD is pretty adamant about staying at her home school where her friends are. I am all for it, but also want my DD who actually has to attend, be part of the decision making process. She’s not super outgoing and the idea that she’ll may not be as content socially counteracts any academic advancement she might obtain. We will attend the open house before making our final decision however, in case we all are swayed by that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Already at a high performing elementary with a strong cohort

+1
And friends

Definitely made the right choice keeping my current 4th grader at our home school instead of the CES.
Amazing teacher. Great enrichment with a strong cohort in ELC and compacted math.

[Anonymous]

We declined CES because we found out 4 days before school closed in 3rd grade and MCPS provided us very little information, no opportunity to visit the CES school etc. And the commute was long and we have ELC/compacted math at our home school with a strong cohort. Also, the teachers knew about DC's learning differences and we were worried about that at a school full of gifted kids whether our DC would be lost. Finally, DC wanted to stay at home school. Glad we did it as now, we are again needing to switch for MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid wanted to bike/walk to school to get that feel of independence and continue to be able to hang out with friends more casually, already at a high performing elementary with a great teacher who does the enriched ELA.

Not worth the commute given the lottery. I like that the kids who might have gone to the CES a few years ago now have to stay at the home school.

Damn, that is cold. Staying in your home school is the right choice for your child, but you’re glad other families who would have wanted the CES don’t have access to it??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid wanted to bike/walk to school to get that feel of independence and continue to be able to hang out with friends more casually, already at a high performing elementary with a great teacher who does the enriched ELA.

Not worth the commute given the lottery. I like that the kids who might have gone to the CES a few years ago now have to stay at the home school.

Damn, that is cold. Staying in your home school is the right choice for your child, but you’re glad other families who would have wanted the CES don’t have access to it??

DP with an unpopular opinion. It's nice that the home school is a great option. My kid is with the most advanced kids in her class at a school with very high SES families. Not sure I'd want to change to CES where kids lottery in with lower stats due to FARMS or IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid wanted to bike/walk to school to get that feel of independence and continue to be able to hang out with friends more casually, already at a high performing elementary with a great teacher who does the enriched ELA.

Not worth the commute given the lottery. I like that the kids who might have gone to the CES a few years ago now have to stay at the home school.

Damn, that is cold. Staying in your home school is the right choice for your child, but you’re glad other families who would have wanted the CES don’t have access to it??

DP with an unpopular opinion. It's nice that the home school is a great option. My kid is with the most advanced kids in her class at a school with very high SES families. Not sure I'd want to change to CES where kids lottery in with lower stats due to FARMS or IEPs.

That's a great point. Kids who got in with lottery might not be the highest performing kids anyways. So if your kids are already at a high performing school, that can be one of the reasons to decline along with after school activities, commute time, friends etc.